Photographic Portraiture Specialization 01: Fundamentals and Professional Technique

Lupe de la Vallina is a freelance photographer who specializes in portraits and travel. She collaborates with publications such as El País Semanal, Jot Down, and YoDona on a regular basis. Her work has been featured in Vanity Fair España, GQ Italia, Interiores, Magazine Fashion & Arts, Travel & Leisure, and Life & Style.

Her technique is intuitive and natural. She favors freedom of movement over perfection to adapt to her subject and encourage a deep dialogue between model and photographer, which is what characterizes her portraits.

Aside from photography, she occasionally writes and gives talks, focusing primarily on the capacity of wonder (TEDx, teacher training at the Francisco de Vitoria University, etc.).

Marta Mas was born in Barcelona and although her background is in philosophy, she has turned her love for photography into a career. Her portfolio contains a wide range of different clients, including actors and actresses, musicians, jewelry brands, and theaters.

Marta manages to capture the most personal side of her subjects through the portrait, which she explains is about "something in the way they look, maybe understanding them, anything that's more genuine than the armor with which we present ourselves to the world". With her style and ideas, she seeks a more human approach to photography that starts with care, seeing as the most honest truths can only be explained by those who don't judge.

Emilia Brandão is a professional portrait photographer based in Madrid. From a young age, Emilia has relied on her camera to connect with people, build relationships, and travel the world.

Originally from São Paulo, Emilia studied Cinema and Photography before becoming a freelance contributor for publications like Vogue, GQ, Elle, and Glamour. She has photographed some of the world’s top business leaders, athletes, and celebrities, including Philippe Starck, Kaká, Yoko Ono, Antonio Banderas, and more. In 2020, she was named an official LEICA ambassador.

Bob Wolfenson is a Brazilian photographer from São Paulo, where he lives and works. From the beginning of his career at just 16 to today, he has worked in a range of photographic media. A national symbol of portraiture as well as nude and fashion photography, he has always oscillated between artistic projects and advertising pieces.

He has composed pieces for publications like Veja, Vogue, Elle, S/N, Playboy, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, and Rolling Stone, as well as for several books including Jardim da Luz, Moda no Brasil por Brasileiros, 24x36, and Bob Wolfenson. His most prominent works have been exhibited in important institutions including The São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) y Museu de Arte Brasileira (MAB-FAAP)..

Many of his works have been displayed at museums and galleries such as the Itaú Cultural, The Museum of Contemporary Art, University of São Paulo (MAC), Museu da Fotografia in Curitiba, Zacheta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, and as part of various private collections.

Phil Sharp is a London-based portrait photographer specializing in headshots for actors. He started experimenting with photography after borrowing a friend’s camera, and later went on to work at a family portrait studio, where he learned how to get the most out of his subjects. He lived in New York for a few years, where he captured street photography, before moving back to London in 2009 to work for a variety of commercial and editorial clients. Motivated by his fascination with the human experience, he turned to headshot photography, using his editorial skills to capture interesting shots that tell stories about his subjects.

Phil has won multiple awards, including the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize and the Portrait of Britain award. He has worked with clients including Evening Standard magazine, BBC iPlayer, and The British Journal of Photography.
He also shares his photography with over 30K followers on Instagram.